Paper: A simulation model of scientists as utility-driven agents

A simulation model of scientists as utility-driven agents
Melanie Baier

ABSTRACT. Agent-based simulations of science that account for the linkage between micro-level behavior of scientists and macro-level results of scientific competition are rather scarce. The approach of this simulation model is to link the motivation and behavior of scientists to knowledge growth and scientific innovations via the emergence of new knowledge fields. A new knowledge field is considered both to be a result of scientific competition and a representation of scientific advancement. This paper takes a closer look at the scientists’ motivation and how they coordinate and add to scientific progress as utilitydriven agents. Accounting for stylized facts of scientific competition, selected simulation results show how deep the processes of knowledge generation, reputation and scientific innovations are intertwined. As scientists are assumed to be of different utility types and have different aspiration levels, this approach is able to account for adaptive behavior of agents.

KEYWORDS. Agent-based modeling (ABM), coordination, knowledge generation, reputation, scientific advancement, scientific competition, status competition, utility function

AVAILABLE AT: http://www.scs-europe.net/conf/ecms2012/ecms2012%20accepted%20papers/sdcb_ECMS_0104.pdf